The "Great White Shark" and the "Wild Thing" are set to add some excitement to the local golf scene as German carmaker BMW announced yesterday the richest tournament ever to hit the country.

　　Former major winners Greg Norman and John Daly highlight the field at the US$1.5 million BMW Asian Open which tees off at Tomson Pudong Golf Club May 13-16.

　　Joining Norman, the former world No. 1, and the big-hitting Daly are Irishman Padraig Harrington, the world No. 11, German Alex Cejka and the Chinese No. 1 Zhang Lianwei.

　　The 156-player tournament is a joint-sanctioned event between the European Tour and the China Golf Association. It will also feature regulars from the Asian Tour, a new circuit which recently formed after breaking away from the Asian PGA Tour in January after what it called "poor promotion by organizers."

　　The tournament was last held in Taiwan Province in 2002 when Harrington won at the Ta Shee club. It is being relocated across the strait this year, driven by the carmakers' appetite for sales in the Chinese mainland market.

　　The presence of Australian Norman, a two-time British Open winner, and Daly, winner of British Open and PGA Championship titles, will undoubtedly help to draw the crowds to Thomson Pudong, the closest golf venue to the city.

　　A portion of the tickets will be for invited guests of BMW and other sponsors while the rest will be available to the public, free of charge, albeit in limited numbers through a Website (www.bmw-golf.com.cn) from March onwards.

　　"The average attendance will be controlled at around 4,000 people each day to make sure that fans will have the chance to enjoy golf in a comfortable way," said Ding Xiaoyu, a public relations official for the tournament.

　　Tournament director Marco Alexander Kaussler dismissed the possibility of conflicts over sponsorship and media attention between the BMW Asian Open and the Volvo China Open, held annually at Shanghai Silport Golf Club.

　　On November 25-28, the US$1 million tournament will tee off the 2005 European Tour season. "I believe having more tournaments will benefit the development of Chinese golf."